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“Cleaning the shed” – what you do, or what you get your guys and girls to do when there’s no paid work to get on with. – Matt Russell-Jones from TRJ and Sons Construction
Why do you find yourself “cleaning the shed”?
Those down time and quiet periods are often part and parcel of owning a small business, especially within the trades industry. It’s during these times strong consistent marketing could really come in handy, the kind you would find from a real marketing machine.
But what happens when you don’t have a marketing machine? Nothing consistently driving those busy periods. While enquiries and jobs will come in here and there (because of your reputation or word-of- mouth or because of some ad hoc marketing in place), but soon enough those leads and jobs dry up too.
It’s often the case that you get busy with a few jobs so you ease off the marketing and then when you’re not busy anymore, with no new work to do – your off to clean the shed again.
It would be good to stop this happening, wouldn’t it? Of course it would. In this article, let me give you the blueprints on how you can build your very own marketing machine. No hammers required.
How do you start ‘Building a Marketing Machine’?
Start thinking of marketing as something that you will need as part of your business toolbox.
What I mean by that is that, instead of marketing being something that gets done in an ad-hoc way, it’s getting done consistently, and all the time.
Some people say to me, “I don’t need marketing at the moment, we’re busy. I’ll save the time or save the money because it would be a waste to spend it on marketing. We’re too busy to take on more business right now, anyway.”
This is so silly. It makes me want to shake people.
For one thing, it never happens; for another, it takes a bit of time to help grow and develop your marketing strategy, so you probably won’t be too busy by then.Let’s get back to building your machine.
And there’s no one size fits all, each machine will be different, depending on what type of trade business you are:
1. If you work with consumers
Digital marketing should be high on your list. Consumers know which trade they want. They want a pool or an extension or maybe the toilet is broken – they know which trade fixes the need and so they go looking for that trade, near where they live.
I call this the flow. They hit their phone or computer and search Google + a location. And they choose from who is there, they click a listing and quickly look at the page that comes up and they assess their results by asking –
- Do they do what I want?
- Do they do it for me?
- Are they any good?
Understanding these components of that machine are absolutely crucial, because getting them right will help your business to appear within the search results:
- Google Adwords
You need to be there, you need to be found in Google for the keywords for your business.E.g. If you are plumber in Canberra you might want to look at using keywords to get found like: Plumber, Canberra, trades, etc
- Active SEO
Appearing at the top where there ads and if you’ve got the money, you want to be on the map as well.
- A website
Land those clicks on a website or webpage that turns them into a lead that gets them to enquire, gets them to call you, or gets them to emailing you
This type of machine will help to keep the cogs of your business turning as you interact in the digital sphere with potential new customers who want your business. You may need to spend a few bob here and there to generate the ads, but in the long run it is worth the online exposure.
2. If you work with builders or architects or business customers (especially larger ones)
Relationship marketing should be your focus. These people, or businesses don’t hit Google when they have a need. They have relationships with people already – people have been knocking on their door asking for work since they first started out. That’s what you need to do too – build a relationship with potential customers so they know why you’re good and give you a chance the next time they have a need or the next time their existing trade lets them down or is busy.
It’s a personal contact activity and it’s the easiest thing to stop when you get busy because it takes time and effort.To build this kind of machine, follow the steps below:
- Set time aside
- Set reminders
- Build a system
- Get someone to hold you accountable for it.
- Or hire someone to do it for you and hold them accountable for doing it.
Finishing touches
If you do it properly, you should expect more enquiries and get a reasonable flow of high-quality leads from people who are looking for the work you do. Your web people should be able to help you do this. If they can’t, talk to someone who is experienced.
Having time on your hands to be ‘Cleaning the shed’ is not good. Consider having a business coach who can help you make money and build systems into your business, and hold you accountable. This will stop you from having nothing else to do except cleaning the shed.
Nobody else but you can build the marketing machine. I’ve given you the blueprints so start picking up tools and get this machine running!
Want to find out more marketing for Tradies? Watch Jon’s video here on how to build a marketing machine:
https://www.smallfish.com.au/tradies-toolbox/build-a-marketing-machine/
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This series is prepared by Jon, from Small Fish Business Coaching. He runs a coaching program called ‘Tradies Toolbox Program’, helping people grow and scale their trades business.
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